NYC exec stole $6M, used dough to buy $150K engagement ring and 150 plane tickets: prosecutors

A Manhattan marketing exec swiped nearly $6 million from firms he worked for — splashing some of the dough on a $150,000 engagement ring and 150 plane tickets for jaunts, authorities said Monday.

Michael Collins, the 61-year-old chief marketing officer for the digital banking platform nCino, created bogus companies filled with fake employees and led by phony presidents to pull off his scheme, prosecutors said.

He pleaded not guilty Monday as he was indicted on grand-larceny and falsifying-business-records charges in Manhattan Supreme Court for the eight-year set-up, where he allegedly stole millions of dollars from his employers to fuel a lavish personal life.

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“[Collins] used the stolen funds for such things as executive club memberships, luxury brands, fine dining and extensive travel and lodging, including over 150 flight tickets purchased during the period of the thefts,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Michael Luongo told the court.

“Notably, the defendant also used the stolen funds to pay for a $150,000 engagement ring from a boutique jewelry store,” the ADA said.

Collins used two fake companies – Quattro Quadrati LLC and Regiondrivers LLC – to steal money from his jobs between March 2016 and April 2024, falsifying email addresses, phone numbers and bank accounts to make his scheme appear legitimate, according to the indictment.

Collins was so concerned about being caught that he went as far as investigating whether his identity could “be shielded or masked” from anyone trying to dig up dirt on him, prosecutors said.

He even created fake people inside his fantasy companies in an effort to cover his tracks, according to court papers.

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“The defendant took pains to cover up the mechanics of his theft, including by creating fictitious individuals to serve as presidents and employees of the fictitious companies and registering email accounts to those names,” Luongo told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Althea Drysdale — seeking to keep Collins locked up on $500,000 cash bail.

Prosecutors said that in total, Collins stole $5 million from a financial education company where he served as the chief marketing officer before he left in 2022.

He then became the chief marketing and revenue officer for an unnamed education technology company — where he stole nearly $1 million before he was caught, according to court papers.

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Collins also allegedly withdrew $170,000 in cash from the businesses, which has not been accounted for yet.

His lawyer, Seth Zuckerman, told the judge that his client denied the allegations and should thus get a discount on bail — but the judge sided with prosecutors and set bail at $500,000 cash or $1 million insurance bond.

Collins served as the chief marketing officer of CFA Institute, a non-profit finance education company, between 2016 and 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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He then went on to become a senior vice president of marketing and customer acquisition for Pearson before leaving the company in May 2024 before joining nCino in June.

nCino did not respond to emails or phone calls when asked by The Post if Collins was currently employed with them.

“Our Financial Frauds Bureau and our Investigation Division more broadly stands at the ready to investigate these types of matters and hold accountable those who engage in this type of alleged conduct,” Manhattan District Attorney Bragg said.

Collins is due back in court Oct. 7.